If the latest unemployment figures had come out Friday, Nov. 2, instead of this past Friday, Democrats would have flooded us with dismissive rationalizations and Republicans would have crowed that the numbers proved President Barack Obama's economic policies were a failure.

The jobless figures, showing unemployment rising to 7.9 percent in January from 7.8 percent in December, were ignored by the politicians, who have moved on to occupy themselves with sequestration, "fiscal cliffs" and debt ceilings.

Although the jobless rate was basically unchanged since last September — nationally and for specific categories of workers, for example, 7.3 percent for adult men and women and 23.4 percent for teenagers — employers were adding jobs at a fairly healthy rate. A jobs recovery is under way; the reason why rates don't seem to be changing much is because more people are seeking those jobs.

The fourth quarter showed a slight economic contraction of 0.1 percent, caused largely by decreased government spending, especially in defense. Private employers, meanwhile, stepped up their hiring at a better-than-expected pace.

The forecast is for the economy to begin growing again — though only 1 percent for the January-to-March quarter.

Companies added 157,000 jobs in January, and the Department of Labor significantly revised upward its estimates of end-of-the-year hiring: from 161,000 to 247,000 jobs in November and from 155,000 to 196,000 in December.

The department's revisions also showed that in 2011 and 2012, the economy was adding 180,000 jobs a month, well above estimates at the time of 150,000.

Evidently, we have been doing a lot better than we thought.

The high Social Security tax that took effect in January didn't do terrible damage to consumer spending, which remained high along with business investment. And these new figures show bellwether industries — such as construction, retail and hotels and restaurants — adding jobs.

The stock market thought all of this was promising news and the Dow Jones industrial average briefly reached 14,000 Friday morning for the first time in five years.

But the short-term outlook is not terribly promising, in part because of the uncertainty over what Congress will do.

The monthly jobless rate now seems to have eased out of the political spotlight, at least until the congressional midterms.

We would like to be able to chronicle a steady statistical march to full employment.

Indiana, which lags a month behind the national jobless fires, reported unemployment of 8.2 percent for December, up from 8.0 percent in November.

According for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, private sector employment grew by 8,300 jobs in December.